Professor Richard Grimes has been actively involved in both legal practice and academia. He was qualified as a solicitor in 1977 and was later a full-equity partner in a provincial law firm.

He was the Director of Clinical Programmes at the University of York in the UK. Prior to that, he held posts at University College Cork, University of Keele, Sheffield and Sheffield Hallam Universities, University of the South Pacific, University of Derby, and the (then) College (now University) of Law

Professor Grimes is an independent consultant and a visiting professor at Charles University and (from September 2021) a visiting professor at Edinburgh Law School. In his consultancy role, he has worked for governments, non-governmental organizations (NGOs), and donor agencies, particularly the UNDP and the Soros Foundation, in many countries including Afghanistan, Australia, Iran, Nigeria, Palestine, Papua New Guinea, the Republic of Georgia, Turkey, and Vietnam. He has served on various national (UK/England and Wales) advisory bodies and committees including the (then) Department of Constitutional Affairs’ Task Force on Public Legal Education and the Quality Assurance Agency’s review on Benchmark Standards in Law.

He has published widely in books and peer-reviewed journals on welfare law issues, access to justice, legal skills, legal education reforms, and clinical approaches to study. He has been involved in a number of other activities over the years including company secretary to a collective and committee member/adviser to various NGOs/community groups. Professor Grimes remains committed to improving legal education, access to justice, and promoting legal literacy.